Blackout
by Aylatha
Summary: One-shot. After attending a party hosted by the Taisho Corporation, Lillia wakes up in an unfamilar apartment. The last thing she remembers is leaving the party earlier, since she was feeling unwell... While trying to figure out who kidnapped her and why, she suddenly finds herself confronted with a part of her past she'd thought she'd left behind for good...


**A/N: I know this is not what you were waiting for, but here's another teaser. I've wanted to write this so badly, and I hate waiting. So... enjoy!**

**I still don't own anything, and the cover was made using the Velvet Fashion-maker on Azalea's. It can also be found on my Doll Divine and DeviantArt-accounts.**

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><p><strong>Blackout<strong>

The first thing Lillia realised when she came back to her senses was that she was lying on her back, which was strange – she normally slept curled up on her side, with one arm stuffed under the pillow for good measure. While she did move around a lot while she slept, she couldn't remember ever falling asleep or waking up while lying flat on her back.

Cracking her eyes open, she realised she was in an unfamiliar room. It was dark outside, but moonlight was filtering in through the windows. Lillia climbed out of the bed and almost tripped over the too long legs of the pyjamas she was wearing.

Frowning, she stopped to inspect this rather strange article of clothing – it was, as far as she could tell, a man's pyjamas, which meant that she was in a man's flat – or that of a woman who had really a strange taste in clothes.

After having rolled up the legs so she wouldn't trip again, Lillia looked around and spotted her dress and bra draped over a chair. It irked her that whoever had brought her here had almost undressed her completely, but then again, she hadn't expected that person to have any honourable intentions towards her anyway. She resolutely crossed over to the window in an attempt to find out where she was, and couldn't stifle a gasp.

Beneath her, all of Tokyo lay spread out, the city glittering and sparkling in the dark of the night. She had to be in one of the tallest buildings in town; however, she was fortunate she hadn't been taken somewhere out in the countryside. Maybe, she would be able to escape from here...

Lillia rested her head against the glass as she tried to figure out what had happened. She had been attending a show members of her kyudo-school had held at a party hosted by the Taishou Corporation. Lillia had left early since she hadn't been feeling well... the last thing she remembered was walking down an empty street, and then – darkness.

Realising she wouldn't figure out what exactly had happened anytime soon, Lillia decided to focus on her immediate problem: finding a way out of here. As she approached the door, she deliberated what would be the best course of action: call out and hope that someone who might be willing to help her would hear her, make a mad dash for the door, or to keep quiet and explore. She decided to try number three – she didn't even know if the owner was at home, and maybe, she would find something she could use. At the very least, there should be knives in the kitchen.

Lillia slowly pushed down the handle, praying the door wouldn't creak, and was very relieved when it didn't. Once outside the door, she found herself in a dimly-lit corridor. Both sides curved in the same direction, and Lillia couldn't see anything that looked like a door leading to the outside. More doors lined the wall on the side her room was on, but there were none on the other side...

Lillia decided to turn left on a whim, and slowly padded down the corridor. She passed what appeared to be a living room with a huge window as tall as the room itself, but didn't pause to take a closer look – she was very unlikely to find anything useful in here.

She rounded the corner at last, carefully peaking around it first to make sure no-one was waiting to ambush her on the other side. As she continued her trek down the hallway, she wondered why someone would go through the trouble of kidnapping her, dressing her in his clothes and putting her to bed, and then leaving her there. She frowned slightly as she considered that he might be after something else – but what? She was obviously a foreigner, and chances that any of her relatives were here would be too slim for someone to risk taking her hostage. She wasn't a person of importance either, no, in fact, she had never been, she thought bitterly.

She stopped, surprised, when she found the first door on the right side of the corridor. The other doors had been closed so far and she had been hesitant to stumble into a room if she didn't know what was inside. She could see that the corridor turned to the right again farther ahead and guessed that there was, in fact, just one corridor that connected all the rooms in this flat – which was rather big. Probably a penthouse, really.

Not only was Lillia surprised to find a door on the right side, but it was also different from the others – it was made from glass, like the doors leading to balconies usually were. Just that this one led out into a garden.

Without any hesitation, Lillia opened the door and stepped outside, realising instantly that she was on the top floor of the building. And, while she had seen rooftop gardens before, this one was more beautiful and magnificent than all of those put together. Also, something about the air seemed off – it seemed so fresh, clean. Not like air in a big city usually tasted.

Not quite understanding how anyone had managed to get trees onto a rooftop without making the house collapse, Lillia wandered the garden, enjoying the serene stillness of the place. The air was slightly cool – it was almost Autumn, after all – but she didn't mind.

Lillia enjoyed the feeling of the gravelled path under her feet, it was almost like a massage. Further down the path, she spotted a stone lantern and went over to take a closer look at it. Letting out a soft chuckle, she turned on the spot to take in all of her surroundings – and froze when she realised she was no longer alone.

He stood perfectly still, not moving at all – he didn't even seem to be breathing. Lillia would have assumed that he was simply a statue, but not even Michelangelo or David would have been able to capture the deathly beauty of Sesshomaru and do it justice.

It was very strange, seeing him wear modern clothing, and for once not lugging around that huge furry thing that was normally attached to his right shoulder.

Unbidden, thoughts rose of him wrapping her shivering body in said fur, and how soft and warm it had been... she mentally shook herself to get those thoughts out of her head.

It occurred to Lillia that it might be a good idea to start breathing again, unless she wanted to pass out, which didn't really seem like the best course of action considering she was in the penthouse of a certain dai-youkai who held no friendly feelings towards her. Speaking of him, he still hadn't moved, or spoken, and she figured it was up to her to start a conversation. Which wasn't exactly easy, because last time she'd seen him – and that had only been little over a week ago – he'd been chasing after her because she'd try to run away from him – actually, she had only barely made her escape. And now, he'd found her...

Lillia forced her body to relax, as he could sense her anxiety, and wet her lips – she felt awfully thirsty all of a sudden – and finally made herself address the inu.

"What happened?"

Her voice sounded off, hoarse and cracked, as if she hadn't used it in a long time. Lillia cleared her throat a little awkwardly.

He stirred then, blinking once before moving towards her – slowly, and in a way that seemed deliberately non-threatening. She noticed that, instead of walking straight up to her, he took a more curvaceous route – a sign among dogs that he wasn't going to attack. It helped calm her down more.

"One of the other guests attending my event spiked your drink", he said in a low voice. "I found you collapsed in the streets."

"Your event?"

"I own Taishou Corporation."

"Ah. But that can't be – I never let go of my drinks the entire evening!"

"Clever, but not clever enough – I assume he used his youkai-speed to slip the drug into your drink while you were holding it."

Lillia paled. She had never considered anything like that might happen – until her run-in with InuYasha and Kagome the previous night she had always thought there were no youkai in this time... A tremor shook her body as she realised just how close she was to something really bad happening to her, and a wave of dizziness overcame her.

"Do you require water?", Sesshomaru asked, moving closer to her.

Lillia nodded, not really trusting her voice. He was gone the next moment, and reappeared in the blink of an eye, holding out a glass of water. Lillia let out a shriek – making him flinch – and jumped away backwards, almost losing her footing in the process.

"Don't do that!", she snapped at the dai-youkai. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"My apologies", he murmured, still holding out the glass. "I had forgotten that you were not used to this."

Lillia gingerly took the offered drink, careful not to actually touch Sesshomaru in the process. She drained the glass almost in one go, and it made her feel considerably better.

"Does this happen often? Youkai drugging humans so that they can have their way with them, I mean."

"Sometimes. The responsible ones among us try to prevent those things from happening, of course – security should have made sure the humans attending my company's event were safe from any harm. I will find out who slacked off on duty, and punish him. You need not worry, Lillia", he added, sensing that she was still distressed, "he picked you at random. He would have taken any other female if the chance presented itself, so he won't be coming after you again. In fact, I made sure that he won't be molesting anyone anytime soon."

Lillia, who had been busy examining her empty glass, looked up at that.

"You didn't kill him?", she asked, unable to hide her surprise.

She remembered only too well what Sesshomaru had done to the last people foolish enough to attempt to harm her. It hadn't been pretty, she'd been having nightmares for a week. And he probably didn't even know.

"It is not as easy as it used to be to simply kill someone and leave him to rot in the streets", Sesshomaru replied with a shrug. "Besides, someone would have noticed he went missing. As you might have guessed, most humans are unaware of our continued existence, and we would like to keep it that way."

"'We' being who exactly?"

"The rulers of demon society. Many things have changed those past 500 years, but not all of them. I am still the Lord of the Western Lands, I just rule in a different way than I did back then."

"I see. Um – where are we exactly? I mean, I already figured out we were still in Tokyo, but..."

"This is one of my houses, I stay here whenever I am in Tokyo."

"Your house? You mean you own this building?"

"Hn. I rent out the other apartments to youkai, miko and houshi, and their human companions. The walls of this building have been reinforced and block sound, there is also a dojo in this building."

Lillia stared at him, before casting another look around.

"Do I even want to know just how many buildings you own? Probably not... By the way, the air here seems different."

"You can tell?"

"Obviously."

"I'm surprised – most humans can't."

"I have a rather sensitive nose – for a human. I can smell things others don't even know of. That can be very bothersome at times – oh, who am I kidding. It must be a lot worse for you..."

"Most likely. There is a barrier above, it filters the air and keeps the stench of the city out."

"I see. That's nice."

Not really knowing what else to say, Lillia fell silent again, looking anywhere but at the male standing right in front of her. It was only now, as the stress she had been subjected to abated, that she noticed that it was rather chilly. Lillia shivered when a sudden breeze blew through the garden.

"Are you cold?"

"A little", she replied, knowing it would do her no good to lie.

"You should head back inside, then. Go take a shower, and then get some sleep – your body needs the rest."

Her head snapped up at that, and she stared at him quizzically.

"Do I smell – bad?"

"Not particularly, I had merely assumed you would like to take a shower. It would also help you relax – you are awfully tense."

"That's hardly my fault", she retorted angrily.

"I never said it was. You will have to make do with my clothes for the meantime – I have nothing else to lend you."

"It's okay", she replied with a shrug. "Although I almost broke my neck when I tried to walk – you are much taller than me."

"Take care not to kill yourself."

"Don't worry, I won't. Not now, when I'm finally back..."

She trailed off, not sure if it would be a clever idea to reveal too much to him. Sesshomaru hadn't reacted well to her attempts to leave him so far – if he found out she planned to return to her homeland the following week, he might try to stop her... while lying to the inu wasn't an option, concealing things was. She just had to be very careful he didn't figure out she _was_ hiding something.

Sesshomaru was, in the meantime, busy eyeing her critically, which Lillia found quite unnerving.

"You are still too thin", he murmured.

"Excuse me?"

"You do not eat properly", he stated. "You never did. Not even a child would have been sated with the amount of food you ingested."

He hit a nerve, and Lillia instantly bristled.

"That's not my fault. I can't help it, so leave this matter alone."

His words brought up unpleasant memories, memories she'd attempted to bury deep inside. His remark that night had greatly shaken her confidence – because she knew she was underweight, Lillia had always had had some issues with her body. She had tried her hardest to put on weight, but with no success... Sesshomaru's cold remark had just reinforced her belief that her body lacked something.

The inu frowned, apparently busy analysing her emotions, and Lillia tried to shut them down instantly – drawing upon the cocoon, the mask she had made for herself so long ago. She had degenerated almost completely to an empty shell, but it had been the only way for her to deal with what had happened...

"Do you have some kind of eating disorder?", he asked at last.

Lillia let out a small sigh and turned her head away.

"Yeah. Started when I was 15. Apparently, I have a small stomach, so I can only eat small amounts of food. If I eat too much, I get sick. If I smell anything after having eaten, I get sick. Stress makes me sick. I know the triggers, and try to avoid them as much as possible, but I can't control this. I never could. It's also in my genetics – my body can't extract all the energy that's in the food that I actually manage to eat. Sometimes I think that my brain and body are trying to starve me... at a time, it was so bad I threw up every morning after breakfast... It was a terrible week. It's bad for my health, too, as the stuff inside our stomach is a rather aggressive acid... it corrodes your food pipe and teeth. And it hurts, too... I've tried so many things. Eating lots of sugar, fat, meat... tried eating smaller helpings throughout the day... all for nothing. I mean, I did manage to increase my weight by about five kilos, but I'm still too thin... it gets really bad when I get sick and have to go on a diet. Sometimes, I really don't know what to do with myself..."

"Have you sought help?"

"My mother suggested I go see a therapist, as my throwing up almost every morning was bothering the others, so I did... it helped. But I'm not cured, and I'll probably never be."

Not really wanting to continue this discussion – at least not with him – she turned away. Sesshomaru was not having that, however.

"Wait, Lillia! Talk to me more, perhaps I can help you."

"I highly doubt that. I never meant to tell you all that, just forget it."

He was the last person on this planet she wanted to reveal her weaknesses and shortcomings to.

"Lillia!"

He grabbed her wrist to stop her from moving away. She spun around and glared at him, angry and defiant.

"I'm done discussing this matter with you. Release me."

To her utter amazement, he actually did as she asked. She sent him another scalding glare and then marched away, towards the house.

"Where are you going?"

"To find the bathroom; since you spent all this time chatting, I got the impression you feel disinclined to show me the way."

Taunting Sesshomaru often worked, and so she wasn't too surprised when he streaked past her, plucking the empty glass from her hand as he went.

"Follow me."

Lillia did just that, wanting nothing more than to get away from him – even though she couldn't get away very far.

He stopped in front of one of the nondescript doors she had passed earlier, and opened it for her.

"Take your time", he murmured. "You can use the room I put you in at your leisure – I will leave the door open, so you'll know which one it is."

Lillia nodded before moving into the bathroom, admiring the simple, yet elegant beauty of this room. One could say many things about Sesshomaru, and most of them would not be nice, but he was very good at surrounding himself with beautiful things.

Except for her.

"Oh, and Lillia?"

"Hm?"

"Try not to drown in the shower."

She sent him another glare, not sure if his comment had been meant as a joke. Probably not.

"You know, I'm not as pathetic as you may think. I can keep myself alive if I want to", she snapped before slamming the door in his face.

Still angry, she started shedding the borrowed clothes and turned on the shower. Only after she was under the hot, steaming water, she allowed herself to slump, giving in to all the suppressed emotions that had been lurking just underneath the surface, ready to boil over at any time. Leaning against the cold, tiled wall, she let out all her frustration, anger and pain, knowing that the water would prevent him from smelling those things, and hoping that he was too far away to be able to sense them.

Seeing Sesshomaru again hadn't been easy for her, they hadn't exactly parted on good terms – they had never really been on good terms to begin with. He had just shown up one day and completely ruined her life – more than fate, the kami or whatever had felt like messing with her life had already done. Then, about a week ago, she had finally managed to escape from him – and now he had found her again. Lillia had no idea what that meant for her future – what Sesshomaru planned to do now. After their conversation just now, Lillia was rather certain he wouldn't harm her – at least not physically, and probably not intentionally, either. But that didn't mean she couldn't, or wouldn't be hurt. And Lillia had no intentions of putting up with the inu's egocentric ways any more.

But not only the emotional/psychological part was getting to her, no, the fact that almost everything about him was so utterly perfect didn't help, either. He hadn't even changed since she'd last seen him – it would have been a bit easier for her if he'd at least gotten some wrinkles. But no, he was immortal, after all, and didn't age. He was somewhat taller, she supposed, but that didn't really make much of a difference.

Lillia had always been a rather self-confident person, who never cared about the opinions of others, and felt that those who couldn't take her the ways he was should just leave her the hell alone. Unfortunately, Sesshomaru had not done that – he had kept her close by, and she had never really attempted to sway his opinion of her, either – partly because she wasn't sure how he was going to react if she tried. She had been completely dependant on him, unable to survive on her own. If he had decided that for some reason she wasn't worth the trouble, she would have died.

So, she had kept quiet, only speaking her mind whenever he managed to provoke her.

Once she felt more calm and relaxed, she had a look at the soaps and body lotions available. Sesshomaru apparently preferred mild scents, and was leaning more towards the musky, woody ones – something Lillia totally approved of. She could imagine nothing worse than rose-scented perfume. She just wasn't the type for flowery or fruity scents.

After washing off her generous helping of body wash, Lillia stepped out of the shower, grabbed one of the clean towels and dried herself off before dressing again in Sesshomaru's pyjamas. After that, she went looking for the room she had woken in – Sesshomaru was nowhere in sight, but that didn't mean he wasn't watching. Finally arriving at her destination, Lillia crept into the bed, only now noticing just how soft and comfortable it was. She curled up on her side and soon drifted off into sleep.

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><p>She wasn't exactly sure why she had woken, since one look towards the window told her it was still dark outside. Lillia shifted, trying to get comfortable again, before deciding to flip over onto her left side. However, as soon as she had, she froze, terror washing over her.<p>

Sesshomaru was there, kneeling on the floor next to the bed, his chin resting on top of his crossed arms that were, in turn, resting on top of the mattress. And his eyes – they were red. Lillia's brain switched into panic mode almost instantly – the last time she had seen those eyes, people had died. It hadn't been pretty, and Lillia had figured that Sesshomaru had lost control when he realised just what those people had been planning on doing to her.

It had taken her only moments to process that information and she shot up from the mattress, desperate to get as much space between herself and the out-of-control inu as possible. However, she'd barely managed to scoot away when he suddenly came to life, effortlessly jumping onto the bed and grabbing her right wrist with his left hand.

Lillia froze instantly. There was no way she could break free from his grip, she would most likely only end up hurting herself if she tried. So, she waited with baited breath for him to do – whatever it was that he wanted to do.

For several agonising moments, he did absolutely nothing, then, very slowly, he reached for her face with his free hand. Lillia squeezed her eyes shut, desperately wishing she was anywhere else than here, and prepared herself for anything – but was totally caught off guard when his hand touched her cheek. Her eyes flew open, and she became even more bewildered when said hand started to caress her cheek. His other hand flipped her right one over and he began rubbing small circles into her palm with his thumb.

Lillia was stunned. She was used to a cold, uncaring, calculating and sometimes lethal Sesshomaru. She was not used to an affectionate Sesshomaru, especially a Sesshomaru that was being affectionate towards _her_, since, last time she'd checked, he didn't like her. It was almost as if someone had just told her the sky was actually green, and the grass blue. It just didn't make any sense.

She had absolutely no idea how to act. It wasn't like she could do much, either, as he was still holding her wrist in his grip. She was not one to usually allow physical intimacy of any kind, and would even get uncomfortable when being hugged – especially if the person doing the hugging was overly cheerful. Also, being comforted was something she wasn't really used to – her parents had never been willing or capable of expressing positive emotions towards any of their children, and as a result, Lillia had no idea how to deal with this. She was used to people not liking her, hating her, respecting her and liking her as a friend or colleague. All of that was rather shallow, and didn't require any special kind of involvement on her side. And Lillia knew how to deal with each kind of those people. Now, how was she supposed to act, when someone who disliked her was caressing her face?

Her brain was in danger of short-circuiting while trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and he didn't stop or relent, either... if anything, he seemed to be waiting for something – the look in his eyes, as creepy as they may be, wasn't exactly threatening – more curious.

_Maybe he's gone insane, and likes playing games with people..._

Her brain might be unable to understand what he was doing, and why, but her body wasn't one to ask questions – it had already recognised Sesshomaru's actions as pleasant, which was further derailing Lillia's thoughts. Finally, her brain shut down, and she slumped somewhat in his grip as she simply gave up on trying to figure out his motives.

Almost immediately, he pulled her flush against his chest, his left arm wrapping itself around her waist, while he buried his right one in her hair. Before she could even try to make sense of that, he dropped onto his back, which resulted in her ending up on top of him. That startled her enough to restart her brain, and after letting out a protesting squeak, she tried to get off of him.

A low growl made her reconsider.

Realising that resistance would be futile, Lillia forced herself to relax against his body – as unpleasant as that may be. Sesshomaru's whole frame began to vibrate as he started to make a low, rumbling sound in his chest which strangely enough reminded her of a purring cat, his right hand started to gently massage her scalp while the other one traced patterns on her back. Soon enough, her muscles started to relax, and Lillia even became a little drowsy.

Without any warning at all, fur suddenly burst forth from his body, covering them both like warm, soft blanket. Unable to help herself, Lillia let out a soft sigh at the feeling.

His purring seemed to increase.

She got a feeling he wasn't going to get out of her bed anytime soon, but falling asleep like this was definitely not an option.

"Um, Sesshomaru-sama?"

He made no reply, but his hands stopped moving. She took that as a sign that he was listening.

"Could you let go of me? I don't like lying on my stomach any more than lying on my back. I promise I won't try to get away – I'm to tired for that, too..."

As if to emphasise her words, she let out a huge yawn.

She had not expected him to respond so quickly to her request, nor in the way he did. Within moments, he had shifted them so that they were both on their sides, facing each other. His right arm was now cushioning her head, the other one had never let go of her waist. Realising this was the best she could hope for, Lillia decided not to worry about anything for the moment and go back to sleep.

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><p>Lillia woke completely disorientated the next morning, and tried to figure out why on earth she was cuddling something warm, moving and very much alive. She blinked her eyes open to find that she had snuggled up to Sesshomaru, who had buried his face in her hair, and was still pretty much asleep.<p>

She stared at him, completely amazed. It was the first time ever she had seen him sleep, he had always been awake when she settled down for the night, and awake whenever she got up. She wasn't sure if he even needed sleep – InuYasha could go without for some time, after all, and he was only hanyou. Lillia didn't know enough about youkai to be able to guess those things. Maybe he just needed to rest without actually sleeping in order to replenish his energy – they had never done anything more exhausting than walking, after all, and that didn't even tire _her_.

She actually managed to move a little in his hold so she could get a look at his face. He looked so relaxed, that impassive mask that he normally wore completely gone. Somehow, it made him look a lot more like a normal person – which might have been the reason he had never let her catch him sleeping before. But Lillia could not, for the life of her, figure out why he suddenly wouldn't care about that anymore...

She had no idea how long she had been staring at his face when his eyes suddenly flew open, startling her. However, she calmed down considerably when she noticed they were back to their normal, golden colour.

He just watched her with a rather strange expression on his face, before brushing a strand of her hair out of her face.

"I apologise for the liberties my beast took with your person last night", he said after a while. "I didn't pay attention for one moment, and he took advantage of that."

Lillia blinked, trying to make sense of that.

"This 'beast' of yours being the same that got us into this mess to begin with?"

"The very same."

"Your beast wanted to cuddle with me?"

He let out a bark of laughter, which made her stare at him wide-eyed. Sesshomaru could laugh?

"Believe me, cuddling was not the only thing on its list. But it decided to settle for that, lest it caused irreparable damage... It started bothering me the moment I noticed your scent at the party, and nearly went mad when it realised you had been drugged – had it gotten out yesterday, I _would_ have killed that bastard. It kept trying to escape my control all evening, desperately wanting to be near you..."

"And I thought you had lost control and were about to kill me..."

"I figured as much. We did not mean to frighten you."

"Refrain from sneaking into my room while I sleep in the future, then."

"Hn."

"So... if it was your beast that brought you here, and you're back in control now, why are you still here?"

"Because it pleases me."

Lillia was too stunned by that to be able to think of a reply. She knew he didn't agree with his beast when it came to her, so she had assumed he'd make a run for it as soon as he was back in control. The fact that he was still here, cuddling her, was confusing her greatly.

Sesshomaru sighed quietly before carefully extracting his arm from under her head and getting out of the bed.

"I need to go to work. You can use the penthouse as you please, spend your time somehow until I get back."

Lillia instantly bristled at that, even though she had expected something like this to occur.

"I was planning on returning to the hotel", she informed him while sitting up on the bed.

He turned to face her.

"You are staying at a hotel?"

"Yes. Where else would I stay? I don't have family here, or friends. I was lucky, actually, that my stuff was still there when I finally got back..."

"Wouldn't it be cheaper for you to stay here?"

"Of course it would be cheaper for me, but that is hardly the issue."

"Hn. I would prefer it if you stayed somewhere I could keep an eye on you. This is one of the safest places for you to be at the moment."

"At the moment? You said that I wasn't in danger..."

"While I do not believe that you are, I am not willing to take that risk. The youkai might try to get his hands on you again, simply to prove that he can. He might not have been interested in you before, but who knows if that hasn't changed..."

"In that case, I'd much rather stay with InuYasha and Kagome. I'm fairly certain they will be able to keep me safe."

"You would intrude on them, and their life? They _are_ a mated pair, you know."

"They are still my friends! Unlike you. Why would I even want to be around you? Need I remind you that the last time I saw you, you were ready to kill your brother, who was carrying me? It might have been 500 years for you, but it's only been a week to me. And I don't forget bad things very quickly."

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.

"I am aware of that. However, I would still ask you to stay here, with me – it would put my mind at ease to _know_ that you are safe. Were you to stay with my brother, I would be calling every five minutes to make sure you were still alive... our relationship might have improved, but I do not believe that InuYasha would like to hear from me that often."

"So, once again, this is just for _your_ sake."

"Do you have any idea what it was like for me, after you had vanished from my life? Not being able to see you, smell you, for _five centuries_? Besides, I do believe you would get something out of having my protection, and not having to pay for the hotel."

"That was all your fault", Lillia snapped, completely ignoring his last remark, as it made too much sense for her liking. "You made me do the things I did, you left me with no other choice! Trust me, I would have preferred it if things had played out differently, but they didn't because you were too proud, stupid or whatever you would like to call it. Here, in this world, I am not dependant on you, and I intend to return to my old life as soon as possible."

"You plan on leaving Japan, then?"

"Yes", she ground out, annoyed that he had guessed that.

"When?"

"Wednesday next week. I've already booked the flight."

"Then I would ask you to spend the remaining time with me. It's just a couple of days, anyway..."

"You would ask? Do I even have a say in this, or are you just going to lock me up here?"

"I do not wish to force you. However, Lillia, please be reasonable. You might still be in danger, and at the hotel, there would be no-one to protect you. No stranger can enter this house on his own without arousing suspicion. You would be utterly safe here. Please."

Lillia bit her lip. The fact that he was begging her to stay was getting to her – she'd never thought she'd see that day. And the thought of that faceless youkai coming back to haunt her did unsettle her...

"You want me to stay here, in your penthouse?"

"Yes."

"How do you suppose I spend all those hours until Wednesday?"

"I have a very extensive library here. You can start with that", he replied with a faint smile.

"Fine", she grumbled, "I'll stay. You owe me big for that one, though. And I'll need my stuff – I won't be running around wearing your pyjamas for the next couple of days."

"I'll see to that", he replied with a curt nod before turning away.

"Um – Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Sesshomaru."

"Er – what?"

"Sesshomaru. Just call me Sesshomaru."

"Um – okay..."

Lillia didn't exactly feel comfortable with dropping the suffix, but figured it wouldn't do her any good to aggravate her host. Even if he was making her stay.

"What is it that you wanted to ask?"

"Oh, that. Make sure to stack a lot of the food that I like, so I have a variety of stuff to choose from, should I actually feel like eating something."

"Will do. For today, I'll leave you some money on the counter near the door – you can order anything you like for lunch. We'll have dinner together."

He was gone before she even got a chance to reply. Feeling rather put-out, Lillia dropped back onto the mattress, determined to be lazy for a change.

* * *

><p>AN: So this is it for today, folks! What do you think? This is the middle part of a chapter I am going to call "Blackout". The story I've titeled "Til Death do Us Part" for now, but I'm not exactly happy about it. Do you have any better ideas? If so, leave them in the comments or PM me. The winner gets a doll from me ^^


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